Are we Digital Twinning yet?

What is a digital twin?

I don't know that the term "digital twin" does itself justice. It sounds a bit static. Adding an "ing" to words tends to evoke more of a forward motion. Maybe even adds a continuous connotation. We of course shouldn’t get hung of on precise wording, but at times it can be an important perspective for an important topic.

A “digital twin” is a representation of a physical asset or system in a digital form. A digital twin allows visual performance insights through continuous data inputs. If you didn’t already know, it is the current buzzword in the industry today. It has gained significant traction in construction due to a variety of reasons. Against an unfortunate backdrop of poor productivity and limited technological adoption, construction seems to be the focal point for disruption and change. For many years, organizations have had business models that offer razor-thin margins and high levels of risk associated with projects. It seems; however, the tide is turning. There are a variety of reasons as to why digital twins are in the spotlight, and this can depend on the context that’s applied to deliver better outcomes.

Digital twins are yet to fully deliver against their promise. This is by no means meant to be a negative statement. There’s understandable trepidation, with some unconvinced observers or practitioners believing it could just be merely an overlay of information. On the other hand, some organizations feel they have been doing “digital twins” for many years. This may lie in understanding what a digital twin is and what it can be. One thing we can be sure of, the industry has high expectations for digital twins because they promise augmentation of reality with performance benefits. Essentially – companies can make better-informed decisions to deliver better outcomes. This is particularly important for operations and maintenance as a method for repeatable and automated capabilities to deliver better outcomes. The Centre for Digital Built Britain has provided an in-depth report on the benefit of a national digital twin called Gemini Principles.

The dichotomy has arisen because of data alignment issues and closed workflows that have limited a fully functioning digital twin. I would argue that given the confusion, a digital twin is a context for delivering projects or being able to improve asset management. Digital twins, however, require an open information environment in order to align and access data more effectively acca qualified.

A Context for Project Delivery

Most projects today begin with some form of BIM model. Ideally, this BIM model will contain valuable asset information that if used correctly can be useful for a digital twin. One issue that does not aid the success of a digital twin is the often-obscure file formats that an engineer may use in early project phases. However, open source technology and rapid advancements in new technologies are significantly changing the landscape. For example, reality capture technology offers a quick and easy digital capture methodology with accurate and repeatable outcomes. The ease with which a site can be captured in digital format is being enabled by drones and laser scanning technology that delivers accurate, engineering-ready digital models that can add context to existing BIM models.

These models, however, require alignment in order to be universally useful. Alignment is needed in order to create a workflow to connect digital data, otherwise, we find data can easily become inaccessible and dark. Digital ways of working are being enabled by buildingSMART today. Open data standards provide a collaborative platform for exchanging and managing digital data – or digital workflows. IFC, for example, offers assurances to the client that digital data created during the design and construction phase can be used in-perpetuity – avoiding obscure data formats that expire or become inaccessible at a later date. An example of a context for project delivery can be found in the following two projects.

Aas-Jakobsen, with their winning 2018 buildingSMART Award for Design project titled, Team_T, Avinor Airport, cited the IFC mandate for BIM models as the reason for on-time delivery and under budget. Design teams had a large number of software applications, but rather than standardize on one file format, the client wanted to push an openBIM approach. This meant utilizing IFC as an exchange standard for all contractors allowing them to choose their preferred authoring applications. This bound the various project teams, contractors and software vendors, into delivering genuine interoperability. The open project environment also enabled BIM data to be accessed in a later phase.